Needles rides defense to win over Mountain View girls

Manuel Calderon wasn’t thrilled his team gave up 26 points to Mountain View sharpshooter Ellie Markwardt on Saturday.

But the Needles girls basketball coach had reason to be pleased after the Mustangs held the rest of the Saints to only four points.

It all added up to a crucial 44-30 road win for Needles, which moved into a tie with Mountain View for second place in the Class 2A Southern League.

“We wanted to contest every open shot she gets,” Calderon said of Markwardt. “She’s one of those girls, if she gets an open look at the basket, she’s going to knock it down.”

Markwardt, a senior shooting guard, was 9-for-11 at the free-throw line and had four steals.

But no one else scored for Mountain View until Patrice Marshall sank a free throw with 33 seconds remaining.

“Our team defense was great,” Calderon said. “We shut down the rest of the team, and one person’s not going to beat us alone.”

Alex Chandler had 12 points and Miranda Brackett 10 points and three steals for Needles (17-2, 5-1).

Gena Chavira added nine points and 14 rebounds for the Mustangs, who shot 16-for-23 from the free-throw line.

“Everyone’s always on,” Chandler said of Needles’ offensive balance. “We don’t have (only) one player. Everyone’s equal.”

Mountain View coach Mike Valenzuela blamed what he called a “horrible” game plan on his part.

“I wanted to slow the game down,” he said. “I thought that would benefit us, but it ended up hurting us.

“When they slowed the ball down, everybody had a tendency to turn and watch Ellie play instead of being active looking for their own shot.”

After opening with a 14-3 lead, Needles surrendered a 7-2 Mountain View run early in the second quarter.

But the Mustangs responded with a 12-0 run capped late in the third by Brackett’s block and coast-to-coast layup.

Mountain View (13-8, 5-1), which has lost two straight following a seven-game winning streak, was held to 30 or fewer points for the fourth time this season.

Needles is allowing an average of 31.4 per game.

“Since last year, defense has been our No. 1 priority,” Chandler said.